Assailants stabbed a Japanese diplomat in Yemen as he drove his car Sunday in the capital Sanaa, scene of a recent spate of attacks on foreigners, the embassy said.

Assailants stabbed a Japanese diplomat in Yemen as he drove his car Sunday in the capital Sanaa, scene of a recent spate of attacks on foreigners, the embassy said.

The consul and second secretary at the embassy suffered five stab wounds in the morning attack as he drove through the neighborhood of Hadda, an embassy spokesman said.

It was unclear if the attack was an attempt to kidnap the diplomat.

"He is ok now. He is in hospital," said the spokesman, who declined to disclose the name of the consul.

The spokesman said he had been driving ahead of the consul, but when he arrived at the embassy, he discovered that the consul was no longer following.

The diplomats had been driving without any guards, he added.

In late November, unidentified gunmen killed a Belarussian defense contractor and wounded another in an attack outside their hotel in Sanaa.